1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a software test management program, a software test management apparatus and a software test management method for improving the efficiency of software tests and the quantity of software.
2. Description of the Related Art
To improve the efficiency of the operations (preparation, execution, evaluation, management, etc) in the test process of testing software, it is necessary to effectively utilize the information obtained in preparation works and measurement activities for other operations of the test process of testing the software and in processes (such as design process) other than the test process. For example, techniques for automatically producing test cases from design information and identifying the test cases required to be conducted again by utilizing the outcome of tracing the operation of running a system to be tested are known. Tools for automating a test that are devised on the bases such techniques are also known.
Patent Document 1 (Jpn. Pat. Appln. Laid-Open Publication No. 11-15693) is known as a document describing the prior art relating to the present invention. The test apparatus and the recording medium disclosed in the above cited patent document provide a test operation flow control section that sequentially starts test support functions in an appropriate order and are designed to automate the entire test process by coordinating the pieces of information exchanged among the test support functions.
Thus, it has been possible to coordinate test cases and the formats of test data so that each test support function may utilize the obtained information. However, design information, trace information and source codes are neither held nor coordinated so that it has been difficult to combine test support functions that utilize such information.
For example, while a profiling tool can acquire trace information on running a system to be tested, the user or each test support function is required to independently manage the corresponding relationship between a test case and an operation of tracing the execution of the test case. Thus, it has been difficult for some other test support function to utilize the corresponding relationship.
Additionally, no technique for utilizing design information has been available so far when evaluating the results of the execution of a test case and the test case itself. Therefore, the user is required to analyze the results of the execution of a test and establish correspondence between the design information and the obtained results so as to see if the results of the test are acceptable or not and if the test is executed satisfactorily or not.